A standard pneumatic combination-type strapping machine typically comprises a tensioner for pulling a strap tight about an object and a sealer/cutter for crimping a seal on the overlapping portions of the strap or for crimping the overlapping portions together and cutting them from the strap supply. It is standard for such a device to be pneumatically powered, as the force necessary for tensioning and sealing is considerable, so that the equipment houses an air-powered motor.
In order to be able to close the device around the free end of the strap wrapped around the object and the overlying portion of strap extending from the supply coil, it is standard to make the strapping machine of two relatively pivotal parts, a housing and a handle. The handle normally holds the pneumatic motor and can pivot between an open and closed position on the housing. Since the motor must be supplied with gas under pressure, the standard system typically has a quick-connect plug at the outer end of the handle. Air thus flows inward from this plug through the motor when a valve in the device is actuated, and then flows back out to the handle outer end whence it is exhausted to the atmosphere. The outer end of the handle holds the motor, which basically comprises a rotor impeller that is set in rotation as pressurized gas moves axially inward through it, and the inner end of the handle holds a transmission that converts the high-speed low-torque rotation of the motor into low-speed high-torque rotation of a shaft that operates the sealer and/or tensioner situated near the inner handle end.
When such a tool, which can be fairly heavy, is suspended from a standard tool balancer, typically constituted as a cable suspended from an overhead windup device that is set to apply an upward force on the cable equal to the tool weight, the device can be moved about below the windup device with relative ease. To this end the heavy housing is provided with a mount or eye to which the lower end of the balancer cable is connected. The air hose for the tool also normally is attached to this cable, but diverges from the cable near its lower end so that it can be connected to the outer end of the handle. Such an installation is clumsy in the extreme as the user must wrestle with the air hose and balancer cable, making it difficult to handle and position the tool.